Q&A for How to Judge Conformation in Cattle

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What should a breeding cows hips look like?

Karin

Top Answerer

The hips or pelvic structure of a cow needs to be deep and wide. The pin bones of the hips need to be wide with lots of length between hooks and pins, and wide hook bones as well. This creates plenty of room for calving. The pelvis should be tipped downward at the rear rather than tipped up. Tipped up usually is conducive to calving problems.

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Question

Does body condition contribute to conformation?

Karin

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No. They are two different things. Body condition is level of fat on the animal, and conformation is skeletal structure.

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Explain the importance of well sprung-out rib cage in a dairy animal

Karin

Top Answerer

Well-sprung ribs indicate good capacity for heart and lungs and other eternal organs, like some of the rumen and reticulum as well.

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How does a cow's stance need to be?

Karin

Top Answerer

Squarely under her, with feet under the shoulders and hips. It's really hard to tell if a cow's standing properly if you are looking at her while she's standing on uneven ground, so be aware of that.

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My bull has won multiple grand championships, but he has abnormally small feet. What are the chances that he will pass this small foot trait to his offspring?

Karin

Top Answerer

The heritability is quite low, around 15 to 20% for most breeds.

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Is there any way to put a heifer into heat?

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The standard treatment for cows with a corpus luteum (CL) is an injection of prostaglandin (PG) which will bring most cows into heat two to four days after injection. Combining the PG with heat detection focused on the treated cow will result in cows getting pregnant more quickly.

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